Our Bloggers

Jessie brings nearly two decades of experience in K-12 eLearning and education technology to DreamBox Learning. Throughout her career in the education industry, Jessie has held several leadership roles in general management, sales & marketing, operations and business development. Most recently, Jessie served as President of K12 & K-20 Strategy at Blackboard where she led Blackboard’s growth and development strategy for the K12 group. Prior to joining Blackboard, she served as President of LeapFrog SchoolHouse, the schools division of LeapFrog Enterprises, where she was instrumental in establishing SchoolHouse as a leader in education technology and one of the fastest growing educational software producers in the U.S. Jessie received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA in English from The University of Virginia.

VP of Learning for DreamBox Learning, Inc., Dr. Hudson is a learning innovator and education leader who frequently writes and speaks about learning, education, and technology. Prior to joining DreamBox, Dr. Hudson spent more than 10 years working in public education, first as a high school mathematics teacher and then as the K–12 Math Curriculum Coordinator for the Parkway School District, a K–12 district of over 17,000 students in suburban St. Louis. While at Parkway, Dr. Hudson helped facilitate the district’s long-range strategic planning efforts and was responsible for new teacher induction, curriculum writing, and the evaluation of both print and digital educational resources. Dr. Hudson has spoken at national conferences such as ASCD, SXSWedu, and iNACOL.

Nigel has extensive experience with both software development and teaching. Prior to moving to the United States from Australia, he taught students from kindergarten through Grade 12, and was a member of the faculty of the University of Melbourne. In 1991, Nigel moved to the U.S. to assume a position with a large software developer that had licensed a technology he had developed. Since then he has designed many award-winning products and worked with a number of successful startups. Immediately prior to joining DreamBox Learning as its first developer, he spent eight years at Amazon.com as a software engineer. Nigel is sole or joint inventor on over 20 patents and patent applications, and is responsible for much of the continuous assessment and adaptation technology that makes DreamBox so effective. He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, and is an accomplished musician who has performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as well on a number of Australian and American movie soundtracks.

Joe Trahan brings a wealth of domestic and international experience to his work as a Curriculum Designer for DreamBox Learning. Joe received his BA in Mathematics from the University of Washington. Before taking a second degree, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. For two years, he taught 8th, 9th and 10th grade math in a small village called Tokounou. After his return to America, Joe completed his MEd in Secondary Math Education at George Washington University. Post-degree, he taught middle school Algebra and Pre-Algebra for six years in the suburbs of Washington DC. He also served on his school’s leadership team and chaired two faculty committees. In 2012, his path brought him back to his home in Washington State, where he began his work as a Curriculum designer for Dreambox Learning. Joe’s education and practical experience inform his design work and blogging for DreamBox.

Kelly Urlacher joined the DreamBox Curriculum Design team in 2012 after working with over 600 children during her teaching career. A National Board Certified Teacher with a MEd, Kelly began her Washington State teaching career at Margaret Mead in 2002, where she was the intermediate math lead teacher and on the Lake Washington School District standards assessment committee. After six years at Mead, she was instrumental in opening a new school, Rachel Carson Elementary School, where she was a member of the Core Team that made curriculum, logistical, and philosophical decisions, taught sixth grade math and was Staff Math Lead. Kelly maintains her passion for mathematics, and is thrilled to be able to affect so many children with their understanding and love of math through her work at DreamBox.

David Woods earned a BA in Elementary Education with endorsements in Reading and Middle Level Mathematics and a minor in Spanish from Whitworth University, and a Master’s Degree in Integrating Technology in the classroom from Walden University before joining the DreamBox Curriculum team. He currently holds a Washington State teaching certificate, and spent 7 years teaching students from the second grade to high school junior level. Throughout his teaching career, David reviewed new curriculums, interpreted assessment data, and was a leading member of his professional learning community of math teachers. With 3 of those 7 years being spent in a sixth grade math classroom, David brings a passion for building an effective, individualized math curriculum designed to help adapt to every student.

Blogs

Since 1987, March has been Women’s History Month, an occasion to bring awareness and reflection to the extraordinary accomplishments of women and their influence in shaping our country and our collective future. Women have reached great heights as entrepreneurs, leaders […]

Thoughts on Closing Opportunity Gaps in STEM The Austin weather certainly didn’t cooperate, but Day 3 at SXSWedu was nonetheless an another one for the books. Panels on closing opportunity gaps and the discussion of equity in STEM really stuck with us. Keynote speaker […]

Testimonials

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools enrolled Dreambox this year across our elementary schools. We continue to hear very positive reviews from students, teachers and parents during its initial year in our district.

Charles Nusinov, ED of Learning and Teaching

Whenever my students have some free class time, they pick up DreamBox on their iPads and do a lesson. That's definitely going to add up to a whole lot of new math learning by the end of the year!